And The CommuniCause Winner Is....

Thank you to all of our active social networking Angels, Warriors, Supporters and Friends for helping Soldiers' Angels achieve this terrific honor from Communicause. Please check out our Social Media Sites--

Orlando, FL (September 17, 2009) -- Soldiers’ Angels, a non-profit organization that supports members of the military and their families, has won CommuniCause, a nationwide online contest to win a social media makeover. Launched earlier this year by Orlando-based interactive agency MindComet, the CommuniCause campaign gave Americans the opportunity to vote online and rally support for their favorite 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations. Soldiers’ Angels will receive $25,000 in consulting services from MindComet to help improve its social media presence and fundraising outreach efforts.

MindComet announced the winner today during a live, 10-minute “virtual awards banquet,” an online twist on the traditional awards event. Nominees and their constituents logged onto CommuniCause.com and watched live streaming video as MindComet’s prize patrol surprised the Soldiers’ Angels team at their Pasadena office.

“We are honored to have Communicause award Soldiers' Angels with the $25,000 Social Media Makeover. We look forward to working wingtip-to-wingtip with these great folks to help further our mission in support of the service members, veterans and their families," commented Patti Patton-Bader, Soldiers' Angels Founder and CEO, upon hearing the news.

CommuniCause leveraged the power of social media to arm non-profit organizations with the tools to reach their constituents and gain support. More than 1,500 charities vied for the chance to win, from large, established national charities including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), to niche support organizations like Soldiers' Angels. Anyone with an E-mail address could visit CommuniCause.com and nominate a charity or vote for a previously-nominated organization. The site structure consisted of a real-time voting engine and social media tools, including a CommuniCause Facebook Fan Page, Twitter profile, badges and links -- allowing participants to easily share campaign information and rally more voters to their cause. Users could vote only once on the Website using a valid E-mail address, but could cast a second vote on Twitter and encourage more votes through “retweets” of a custom message. The winner was selected at random from the top ten qualified 501(c)(3)’s, based on votes.

“We are thrilled to be working with such a worthy organization and can’t wait to begin their online transformation,” said Marcelle Turner, CEO of MindComet about Soldiers’ Angels. “In our view, we have 1,500 winners, because every participating organization benefitted by learning how to use social media tools to increase visibility and rally support. These are strategies and tools they can continue to use in the future.” The CommuniCause campaign was also a winner for MindComet, receiving more than 60,000 votes from participants across America and over 100,000 visits to the promotional Web site during the voting period. The digital agency intends to maintain CommuniCause.com Web site with ongoing education and communication, including progress reports on the winners’ online campaign. “We fully intend to return with CommuniCause II next spring,” added Turner.

About Soldiers’ AngelsSoldiers' Angels is a volunteer-led nonprofit with over 250,000 volunteers on 30 different teams supporting all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces. Through special projects, dedicated teams and individuals supporting our troops, Soldiers' Angels make a visible difference in the lives of our service members and their families. For more information please go to the website - http://www.soldiersangels.org/.

Sgt. Mike Stokely died Aug. 16, 2005, in Iraq. He was one of those
extraordinary young men who have a tremendous impact on so many people
even though his time among us was cut short.
To honor his memory, Stokely's family has organized the Mike Stokely
Foundation for the purpose of helping children and others who might not
otherwise be able to afford it gain access to good books and the skills
needed to read them for pleasure and learning.
"Mike loved to read, from the time he was a small child till the day he
died in Iraq. In fact, during the last call his Dad received on Aug. 8,
2005, he talked in glowing terms about how much he appreciated reading
material sent to him," his family explains.
If you would like to help honor the memory of one of America's fallen,
more information about the Mike Stokely Foundation at P. O. Box 833 Sharpsburg GA 30277.
The telephone is 678-416-1387